Category Archives: TV shows

Two years ago, I put together a list of my favorite k dramas. The list is fairly out of date and I really should put together a new one soon. However, there is one drama on there that has stayed my favorite despite an influx of really excellent shows lately. It is Stars Falling From the Sky.

When a self-absorbed, 25-year old woman finds herself the sole guardian of five, adopted younger siblings, her world flips upside down. With no money and no place to live, she takes a job as a live-in housekeeper for her long term crush and hides the kids in his basement. Chaos ensues…

I rarely finish the k dramas I start, much less re-watch them, but I just finished watching this drama for the third time through. I found it as endearing as ever. This just might be my favorite drama. However, I do not think it is a drama most people will like. Filmed in 2010, it lacks the polish of more recent shows. The characters spend over half their time drinking or crying. The usual k drama stereotypes are all present, including the love triangle/square thing, and everyone is in a constant state of angst.

Everyone, that is, except the heroine. She doesn’t have time for angst. She is trying to feed and house five siblings. Her character arc is incredible. I love her affection for her siblings. She isn’t the only one with that arc, though. Re-watching this drama, I was struck by the fact that for a “romantic” drama, the real love goes to the siblings. There is an interesting contract between the characters with siblings (even just one), and those who are only children. Maybe because it is so rare to find big families or sibling love as the focus of pop culture, this story line really appeals to me.

The romance in this drama used to throw me off. Spoilers in this paragraph. The couple finally gets together in the second to last episode. In the last episode, the hero proposes…and gets turned down. This is not an uncommon move in k dramas. Usually the previously weak willed heroine then goes off for two years only to return within the last five minutes of the episode for an inconclusive reunion scene. (Thankfully this trend is less predominant in recent dramas.) However, the heroine in Stars Falling From the Sky is hardly weak willed. She doesn’t disappear. She is as determined as ever to provide for her siblings. In this sense, while the last episode is full of dramatic kidnappings and shocking discoveries, it provides a level of realism. Not everything becomes perfect because you’ve found a man and he proposes. In this last episode, we get to see the heroine standing on her own two feet while also learning to rely on the man who loves her. It isn’t Disney ending, but it is a satisfying one I appreciate more now that I am older.

Like I said earlier, I don’t expect most people to enjoy this drama nearly as much as I do. However, it was a pleasant surprise to re-watch it and discover I like it even more than I remembered!

Looking for a cute Korean drama? Look no farther than Strong Woman Do Bong Soon.

My sisters and I have been addicted to the drama since it first started airing and tonight we watched the last episode. Totally worth it. Though not quite as wonderful as Healer, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon definitely makes it on my Favorite Korean Dramas List.

Do Bong Soon is a sweet, adorable girl who is secretly freakishly strong. Ahn Min Hyuk is a the CEO of a successful video game company and the recent target of several death threats. After seeing her in action, Ahn Min Hyuk hires Do Bong Soon to be his bodyguard. Shenanigans ensue. Throw in an angsty secondary lead, bumbling gangsters, and a murdering serial kidnapper, and you have a drama with a strange blend of romantic comedy, corny humor, and dark suspense.

The fact that these plot lines work together so well (aside from a few cheesy moments) is mostly due to the talent of the actors. Park Bo Young (who plays Do Bong Soon) and Park Hyung Sik (Ahn Min Hyuk) are both adorable. Though playing fairly well-worn roles (sweet poor girl/rich CEO), they bring new life to an exhausted trope. Seriously, I can’t think of any other other word for them collectively or apart than adorable and if you don’t agree, you haven’t seen the show.

The supporting cast, however, are equally talented and creative in their roles.

With only 16 episodes, this is one drama you won’t want to miss! Puppy Couple forever!

My siblings and I have long been firm believers in the theory that if a parent walks in the room, whatever you are watching on the TV will suddenly take a turn for the worse. As children watching PBS programming, we would enjoy a show for weeks without the slightest qualms, but the moment our Mom watched the show with us, there would be an episode full of dark magic and death. She would then ban us from watching the show, and we would feel justifiably wronged.

As we have gotten older, this problem has persisted. Perfectly clean movies will suddenly get sketchy when Mom comes home. It doesn’t matter if we are watching DramaFever, Netflix, or a movie from the library. Something gets inappropriate the minute she walks in.

Last night my sisters and I started a new Korean drama while my Mom was out. Bethany insisted that we watch only until Mom got home, because the minute she entered the house it would get weird. I laughed at her superstition. She grew more frantic. The drama was upbeat, bubbly, and extremely funny. I told her there was no reason to worry. Our Mom came home and walked in the room…and out of NOWHERE a creepy, evil guy kidnaps a girl and chains her to a bed in his basement. I kid you not.

Murphy’s Law isn’t quite the phrase for this, but there must be one like it. Something like, The Parental Programming Law: no matter what you are watching, it will get inappropriate the minute your parent walks in the room.

Finally, I was giggling so hard I decided to look it up and discovered they were all scenes from The Nanny, a TV show from the ’90s. I mentioned it to a friend and my Mom and turns out…EVERYONE KNEW ABOUT THIS SHOW BUT ME. AND IT IS SO FUNNY!

Like seriously, I have been laughing so hard. It is 85% of the reason I haven’t been social for the past 3 days. Well, that and Netflix and the snow.